Vendor Spotlight: May Flowers

April showers bring May Flowers and this year it also brought a big move!

We set down with the owner of May Flowers, Christy Staven, to discuss the move, her goals, and who a May Flowers Bride is!

                                               Photo by: Bamber Photography

You can now find May Flowers at 800 N. Market St. in Chattanooga, TN and it couldn't be a more perfect spot to showcase their floral talent! The history of the building is a story all in itself! It was actually built in 1920 and served the community as a local market! Christy said she couldn't be more honored to carry on its story.

Christy told us she is also so excited about her new space because of the amazing, open floor plan. As soon as you open the doors, you are welcomed by tons of shelves full of gorgeous rentals May Flowers has to offer. Once you take a few steps in, you can see Christy's amazing team in the back designing away for your big day! You can also see a large cooler where the flowers are stored and a small desk where they get down to business! It all comes together to create magic!

Photo by: Amanda May Photography

Christy said that her main business goal is to add more weddings each year and to gain larger-scale events. Best news is, since she opened in 2013, she has hit her goal every year!

We wanted to know a bit more about who a May Flowers Bride is. Does she like traditional flowers or trendy, loose bouquets? Or is she somewhere in-between? Christy assured me she is all the above! With classic, traditional training from Mississippi State, but also an ability to follow trends and keep up with the latest, Christy and her team at May Flowers can do it all!

Christy said, "We like to look at nature as inspiration. With classical training, nature, and then following trends, I like to think we are a happy blend of all those things."

On a scale from 1 to 10, a May Flowers Bride would fall towards the 10 side of loving and appreciating flowers! A May Flowers Bride is also someone who is laid-back, fun, and able to trust the professionals.

Photo by: Jennie Andrews Photography

"I love to see someone who is so inspired by flowers and is able to come up with some ideas but allows us to actually take that and run, putting our own twists and our own suggestions on something specific. Someone that is open to our creative freedom is my ideal client."
                     -Christy Staven

            Photo by: Cinderella Photography

There is so much more that goes into floral design than what meets the eye. Christy said she receives the flowers at the beginning of the week and will prep them and place them in the cooler to keep them fresh. Then, beginning Thursday they will start designing for whatever event the weekend brings! And designing continues all the way up until hours before your event to ensure every last petal is in its place!

Event days are Christy's favorite part because everything they have worked so hard on all comes together to create their vision. You may have 2 staff members or as many as 5 or 6 to create the event space you have envisioned!

         Photo by: Lanie Kay Photography

Are you getting ready to meet with May Flowers for your upcoming event? Here's some things you may want to have picked out ahead of time:
-Style
-Theme
-Colors
-Inspiration Photos

But, if you're overwhelmed and unsure, not a problem! May Flowers will walk you through every step.

With these April showers coming to an end, we are full of excitement to see those sweet May Flowers at our upcoming events!

                                                Photo by: Bamber Photography

If you think you just may be a May Flowers Bride, you can check out some of their amazing designs on their social media pages:
Facebook: @MayFlowersChattanooga
Instagram: @mayflowerscha
Twitter: @MayFlowersCha
Pinterest: @mayflowerscha

Or you can email Christy directly at christy@mayflowerscha.com or call the office at (423) 486-5320.

Happy Planning!
Soirées

Top 5 Spring Wedding Trends

Dear Bride-To-Be,

I’m writing you today with a little extra excitement because it’s the first day of SPRING! While everyone loves the gorgeous flowers and warm weather the spring season brings, of coarse here at the Soirées office we are excited because we are in full fledge wedding mode! And we LOVE it! Here are a few things we are looking forward to this spring wedding season!

1.)  Pinks and Yellows and Blues- OH MY!

-While mutes have been the go-to colors in the past for an elegant, romantic wedding, this spring, say hello to color! Using a few pops of bright colors is a great way to wow your guests and give your wedding a little touch of extraordinary!

Check out this incredible Spring Collection from BBJ Linen!

                Photo by: Our Ampersand Photography 

2.)  Vertical Space- the Perfect Place!

-This spring, look UP! Brides will be taking full advantage of every square inch of their venue! Hanging florals are a gorgeous way to add depth to your wedding design, plus, they are absolutely breathtaking.

                                        Photo by: Andy Baxter Photography

3.)  Enticingly Eclectic

-Can’t choose just one tabletop design? Choose them ALL! This spring, Bride’s will be shying away from the perfectly uniform past and will be moving forward with some organized mayhem! 

4.)  Metallics, Pleases!

-Metallics make a great accent and their versatility make them useful in any design scenario! This spring, metallics are here to stay! Just a little tip- don’t go overboard! A little goes a long way! Using metallic linens at the cake and guest book table should be just enough!

                         Photo by: Cinderella Photography

5.)  Sheer Bliss!

-The most important detail in any wedding is the Bride and her wedding look. This spring, brides may be showing their guests a little something extra… some skin! Sheer dress details this spring are HOT! Illusion necklines, beaded backs, and airy fabrics are perfect for this season!

Follow these tips and you’re sure to have your guests in full Spring Fever!

Happy Planning and Happy Spring!

Soirées

The DIY Bride

Dear Bride-To-Be,

Your wedding is approaching and the bills seem to be piling up! Stop and take a minute to see where you might to be able to save a little money on your wedding costs. I know it might seem like one more thing to add to an endless list, you might consider taking on a little DIY project for some of your decorations and who knows you may have fun in the process and feel like those decorations reflect your personality. Your wedding day will have that personal touch you can’t find anywhere else. To help ease some of the stress you could even have a weekend get together with all your bridesmaids and make a party out of the project! Then you can use the money elsewhere or towards a nice, relaxing honeymoon.  Let us share a few ideas with you:

At one of our recent weddings, our team decorated the church with numerous succulents that the bride herself planted and grew in recycled beer bottles that she had cut the necks off of to use. So ingenious! So let’s say a bottle of beer is about $3 and the succulent is about $2, you have a $5 decoration right there! Now you may say, “A potted plant as a decoration? No thank you!”  But the DIY project is your personal touch. So if you are an artist- display your artwork; if you are a baker, make your favorite snack as a favor; if you are the socialite, create your own signature drink. Take your idea and run with it! By doing this, not only are you saving money, you are giving your wedding a personal touch that your guests will enjoy, and at the end of the day, you can give away your DIY project, like the potted succulents, as wedding favors (which is exactly what the bride did for this wedding) as a cute memento of your union for family and friends.

Using a board, nails, and white string, the bride created another decoration for her wedding – the soon-to-be couple’s last name in string art. This was displayed on the welcome table and was the first thing guests saw when they walked into the church entry, a simple yet fun decoration.

Finally, the father of the bride stepped in to help with the next decoration that was the star of the event (except the couple of course).

What made these three do-it-yourself decorations so great for this wedding is the fact that the church needed very little decorating, so they added just the right touch to the church and each had a story behind them. There are countless ideas for do-it-yourself wedding projects on Tumblr, Pinterest, and blogs, you just have to find what suits your needs, and the sky is the limit, so give it a try!

Best Wishes,

Soirées

Spring Blossoms and Wedding Tips: May Flowers Tells All

We are in for a treat today. Mayflowers is telling all in the world of spring flowers! Keep reading for tips, tricks and inspiration for your spring wedding:

At May Flowers we love working with brides and weddings in any season, but we especially love spring weddings because of the variety of flowers available and the fabulous spring color palettes. There are lots of ways to approach choosing wedding flowers, but one of the easiest ways is to start with color. Once you’ve got a color palette determined, your florist can make suggestions about which flowers will fit well with the décor of the venue, the wedding party’s outfits and the overall feel of your wedding.

For a romantic blush and ivory wedding, fluffy flowers like garden roses, hydrangeas, peonies and
ranunculus work fabulously. Adding velvet dusty miller, pink astilbe or silver brunia berries really completes the romantic feel of the bouquet with a little bit of texture. These bouquets work well as tight mounds, but you could also create a looser bouquet and add green or pink hanging amaranthus to give it graceful asymmetry.

One of the best things about spring is a blooming garden. This atmosphere can be recreated with pastel wedding flowers of many different textures. Hydrangeas are always a good option along with roses, anemones, lisianthus, delphinium, and daisies. There are also several options for greenery, like maidenhair or sword fern fronds, eucalyptus, or a salal and ruscus combination. These bouquets often combine lots of different varieties of flowers so they can be on the large side. They are typically looser to create a more fresh-picked feel that can be accentuated by hanging amaranthus, ivy or ferns.

For a brighter and more whimsical bouquet, go for flowers like dahlias, anemones, proteas, roses and ranunculus. These flowers will fit almost any color palette because they come in so many different colors. Good choices for textural flowers or pops of color are yellow billy balls, Dr. Seuss-esque green trick, sweet William and fragrant wax flower. Greenery options include seeded eucalyptus, ferns and salal.

Whether they come in with no specific ideas beyond colors or a whole Pinterest page dedicated to flowers, May Flowers will work together with brides and grooms to create their perfect wedding day.